Some alcoholic drinks, such as beer, can also cause boating due to gas. Alcohol spikes cortisol levels in the body, which contributes to the accumulation of belly fat. It also impedes your ability to get a good night’s sleep, further contributing to belly fat.
- Still, research has linked excess alcohol use to poor sleep duration and quality.
- Opt for low-calorie options like light beer, and skip mixed drinks with a lot of liqueur, juice, and syrup.
- Although it’s essential to treat yo-self, you might want to save that glass for, say, your BFF’s birthday dinner on Saturday night.
Gradually cut back on the amount you add so that it’s just a splash for a touch of flavor. It’s produced by the adrenal glands and is known as a “stress hormone” because it helps your body respond to a physical or psychological threat or stressor (79). It’s thought that changes in bacteria diversity may lead to changes in energy and nutrient metabolism, stimulate inflammation, and alter hormone regulation, leading to weight gain.
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Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity
Alcohol is high in calories and is likely to increase abdominal fat. Prospective studies have looked at the association between alcohol intake and adiposity gain in various populations, with follow-up periods ranging from several months to 20 years [4, 30, 31]. Results of these studies have been varied and do not provide a clear picture. Several studies have found no association or a negative association between alcohol intake and changes in weight, BMI or other measures of adiposity [12, 30, 32–39].
To minimize your risk of gaining weight, make sure to keep your alcohol intake within the recommended limits and lead a healthy, active lifestyle. Drinking beer can cause weight gain of any type — including belly fat. So, if you’re trying to lose weight 4 ways to relax without alcohol and improve your health, switch to a diet mostly based on whole, unprocessed foods and cut back on added sugar (42, 43, 44). Another reason men may be at more risk of getting a beer belly is due to alcohol’s effect on the male sex hormone testosterone.
In this article, we describe how alcohol can cause a bloated appearance in the stomach. We also look into how long alcohol-related bloating lasts and how to get rid of it. The more you drink, the more you wake up to increasingly unstable moods and stress, leading you to drink (and eat) more. So you’ve had a rough night out, and the only remedy is to stress eat donuts, burgers, and crisps all afternoon while lying on the couch under a blanket of shame. After your body has depleted all its energy metabolizing the alcohol, it wants to be replenished.
Low fiber diet
Consuming adequate dietary protein can support weight management. It’s recommended that most adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic physical activity (or 75 minutes of vigorous activity) each week and engage in regular resistance training. While small amounts of trans fat occur in nature, they’re mainly created for the food system by 254 massachusetts sober living homes transitional living ma adding hydrogen to unsaturated fats in order to make them more stable and allow them to be solid at room temperature. On the other hand, subcutaneous is the layer of fat that sits directly under the skin. This type is less harmful to health and serves as a layer of protection for your organs as well as insulation to regulate body temperature (1, 3).
Stress and cortisol
Alcohol may have various effects on your health that link to weight gain. Alcohol is high in empty calories and may affect hormones that signal appetite, hunger, and stress. You may have heard of the term “beer belly.” Still, the belief that alcohol causes increased fat stores around the abdominal area is inaccurate. A small percentage of the calories you drink from alcohol turns into fat. Some evidence suggests that heavy drinking may cause your adrenal glands not to regulate how much cortisol they secrete. As a result, people who drink heavily may have high cortisol levels.
Makes It Harder To Get Quality Sleep
Females may gain weight in their abdominal region after menopause when estrogen levels naturally decline. Weight is certainly not the only factor when it comes to health. Still, there are a few things you may want to know about alcohol intake and body composition if you think drinking may affect your weight.
Holistic weight management programs
The best way to get rid of your beer belly is to reduce your alcohol intake, exercise regularly and improve your diet. This is important to note, since low levels of testosterone may increase your risk of weight gain, especially around the belly (30, 31, 32, 33). Interestingly, other studies have suggested that drinking beer in moderate amounts of less than 17 oz (500 ml) per day may not carry this risk (7, 8, 16). In fact, one study found that men who drank more than three drinks per day were 80% more likely to have a lot of belly fat than men who didn’t drink as much (15).
On average, a standard serving of wine has around 123 calories (which is lower than beer) but if you’re knocking down a few glasses of wine a night, that’s still a lot of extra weight. However, if you drink a lot of beer or binge drink regularly then you are at a very high risk of belly fat gain, as well as various other serious health problems. Unfortunately, there’s not one perfect diet for reducing belly fat. However, diets that contain low amounts of processed meats, sugary drinks and refined grain products have been linked with smaller waistlines (40, 41).
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, some individuals may suffer both from anorexia and an alcohol use disorder. They often drink rather than eat, believing that alcohol consumption will suppress their appetite. Moreover, in order to compensate for the calories ingested from alcohol, these individuals will starve themselves. Research has found that elevated cortisol levels may increase abdominal weight gain. Cortisol redistributes fat tissue to your abdominal region and increases cravings for high-calorie foods. However, the small group size and uncontrolled diet posed limitations (76).
Studies have also found that your self-control is lower after a poor night’s sleep (7). You’ll also have higher hunger and less satiety after a night of drinking and poor sleep. Of course, this makes it easier to eat bad foods and even more alcoholic drinks.
This can cause you to feel tired and groggy the next day, leading to increases in stomach fat. If you’ve ever been even a little hungover, you know how challenging it is to exercise the next day. Lack of exercising can keep you from burning off those alcoholic calories and eat bad foods the night before. If you’re doing everything else right in your diet and exercise program, then having an alcoholic beverage or two shouldn’t contribute much to weight gain. However, as long as you keep your calories, macronutrients, and meal timing correct, it could even lose weight.
It involves prolonged sitting throughout the day (e.g., watching TV, sitting at a work desk, long commutes, playing video games, etc.) (37, 38). SSBs are the largest contributor of sugar intake in the United States primarily due to their low cost, convenience, and ease of consumption. what most people don’t understand about alcohol and drug use Unlike food, SSBs can be consumed quickly in large volumes since they require minimal processing (6, 7). You can also mix them with soda water or another mixer if it doesn’t have any calories. However, you should consume them moderately as they’re also easier to overconsume.
Sleep deprivation, whether from lack of sleep or impaired sleep, can lead to an imbalance in the hormones related to hunger, satiety, and energy storage. Research suggests that alcohol can lead to increased periods of wakefulness during sleep cycles. However, the effects of alcohol surpass even social drinking etiquette. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and can lead to poor decision-making in the heat of the moment — especially when it comes to food choices.
Lifestyle changes, medications — or both — can help manage bloating or reduce alcohol-related weight gain. Alcohol disrupts your metabolism and lowers testosterone which, in addition to the added calories, contributes to weight gain. If you want a happier, more stable life, one of the BEST things you can do for yourself is quit drinking alcohol. Too much cortisol, however, encourages fat storage in the body (particularly in your mid-section) and is the hormone responsible for lowering testosterone levels. But not until your body is done with the alcohol and if you’re a heavy drinker, well, your body has only so much metabolic bandwidth.
